Golaghat district

Golaghat district গোলাঘাট জিলা
District
District location in Assam
Country	India
State	Assam
Headquarters	Golaghat
Area
• Total	3,502 km^2 (1,352 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	946,279
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Website	golaghat.gov.in

Golaghat district (Pron:ˌgəʊləˈgɑ:t) (Assamese: গোলাঘাট জিলা) is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. It attained district status in 1987. The district headquarters are located at Golaghat. The district occupies an area of 3502 km² and lies 100 m above sea level. As of 2001, Golaghat district has a population of 946,279. Hindus 813,263, Muslims 74,808 (7.9%), Christians 52,277. World famous Kaziranga National Park is situated in Golaghat district.

Etymology

The name 'Golaghat' originated from the markets established by a business class of people called 'Marwari' (who have their origins in Rajasthan) during the middle of 19th century at the bank of the river Dhansiri in the vicinity of the district headquarters. "Gola" means market and "Ghat" means the port of river transport.

History

Inscription on rocks of Nagajari Khanikar village of Sarupathar, remnants of fortifications, brick structures, monuments, temples, tanks, etc. are evidence of a 9th-century kingdom in the Doyang-Dhansiri valley. The Ahoms were the rulers of the Doyang-Dhansiri valley in the 16th century. Earlier, this part was ruled by the Kacharis known as Herombial. The Kacharis were pushed back towards west of the Karbi Hills. The Ahom King appointed a ruler entitled 'Morongi-Khowa Gohain', an administrative post with the Rank of a Governor/Minister of the Ahom administration. Under Morongi-Khowa Gohain, large number of people from different parts of Ahom kingdom were settled in erstwhile Kachari Kingdom. An interesting aspect of such settlement was that a large number of people from different castes/communities were mixed up together so that there was remote chance of rebellion in such newly acquired territory. Most of the Morongi-Khowa Gohains were appointed from the Burhagohain families although there were few exceptions. The Numaligarh was a Fort built by Numal Gohain, a young Ahom prince, which served as the administrative headquarters of the 'Morongi-Khowa Gohain' and also as a border trade post with the Nagas, Kacharis, Dimasas and other such hill people.

Later, when the British took control of Assam, the Doyang-Dhansiri valley was incorporated under the newly formed Golaghat subdivision of the Sibsagar district in 1846. Golaghat district played an active part in the freedom struggle of India. Kushal Konwar, Kamala Miri, Dwariki Das, Biju Vaishnav, Sankar Chandra Barua, Shri Tara Prasad Barooah, Rajendra Nath Barua, Gaurilal Jain, Ganga Ram Bormedhi and Dwarikanath Goswami are eminent freedom fighters of the region.

Golaghat was raised to the position of a district of Assam on 15 August 1987, when it was split from Sibsagar district.^[1]

Geography

Golaghat district occupies an area of 3,502 square kilometres (1,352 sq mi),^[2] comparatively equivalent to the Bahamas' North Andros Island.^[3]

Location

Golaghat district is surrounded by the river Brahmaputra to the north, the state of Nagaland to the south, Jorhat district to the east and Karbi Anglong and Nagaon district to the west. Dhansiri is the principal river, which originates from Laisang peak of Nagaland. It streams through a distance of 352 km from south to north before joining the Brahmaputra. Its catchment area is 1220 km². Doyang, Nambor, Doigrung and Kalioni are the four rivulets of the Dhansiri. The river Kakodonga marks the border between Golaghat and Jorhat districts.

National protected area

• Kaziranga National Park (Part)
• Nambor - Doigrung Wildlife Sanctuary

Climate

The climate is tropical with a hot and humid weather prevailing most of the summer and monsoon months. Total average annual rainfall is 1300 mm. Maximum precipitation occurs in June and July. Maximum temperature is 38.0 °C in June and minimum temperature is 8.0 °C in December.

Economy

The economy of Golaghat district is agriculture-based. Tea, rice and sugar cane are the main agricultural crops grown in the district, with tea being is the largest agricultural industry. There are 63 large tea gardens producing about 20,000 tonnes of tea per year. Moreover, the emergence of small tea growers has proclaimed a new improvement in the district. Small-scale tea growers have gotten considerable fame here because of large incomes compared to other high-land crops. It has caught the desire of unemployed people to take owning tea-gardens as their profession. The rearing and reeling of muga and endi, the making of Japi (headgear) and earthen potential and the extraction of agaru oil are the cottage industries prevalent in Golaghat district. Quality muga silk and agaru oil in Golaghat district are well known in the state. Long-neck earthen potential made in Dhekial, especially for storing molasses, is unique in the world. 'Japi' of Naharani, Dergaon finds a market in the entire Brahmaputra valley.

Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) is the only major heavy industry in the district. Numaligarh Refinery, situated in Morangi, is engineered to process 3.0 million tonnes per year of indigenous crude oil, adopting innovated technologies. Numaligarh Refinery was custom-built in October, 2000 as the latest multi-faceted refinery in the country, having up-to-the-minute facilities and an intricacy measuring 6.67 on the Nelson complexity index, which is the highest among the public sector refineries. NRL has achieved global standards by obtaining certification of its Quality, Environment and Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems. It has already adopted Hydrocracker technology to enhance the production of middle distillates.

Divisions

There are four Assam Legislative Assembly constituencies in this district: Bokakhat, Sarupathar, Golaghat, and Khumtai.^[4] All four are in the Kaliabor Lok Sabha constituency.^[5]

Administration

Within the merged establishment of the Deputy Commissioner, Golaghat are the Offices of the Sub-Divisional Officers, Dhansiri and Bokakhat. There are multiple functions and issues looked after by the Deputy Commissioner's office from its headquarters. The branches of the Office of the Deputy Commissioner are rationalized as Administration, Civil Defence, Confidential, Development, Election, Excise, Home Guards, Magisterial, Nazarat, Personnel, Registration, Revenue, Supply, Treasury and Zila Sainik Board. The Courts of District and Session Judge are also located in its headquarters at Golaghat.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Golaghat district has a population of 1,058,674,^[6] roughly equal to the nation of Cyprus^[7] or the US state of Rhode Island.^[8] This gives it a ranking of 430th in India (out of a total of 640).^[6] The district has a population density of 302 inhabitants per square kilometre (780/sq mi) .^[6] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 11.88%.^[6] Golaghat has a sex ratio of 961 females for every 1000 males,^[6] and a literacy rate of 78.31%.^[6]

Hindus 813,263, Muslims 74,808 (7.9%), Christians 52,277. The main communities of the districts are the Tea tribes(Adivasi), Ahoms, Sutiya, Kalita, Assamese Brahmins, Mising and Kachari. There is also a small population of Turung and Aiton people living in the district. Migrant communities like Marwari and Bengali live in the townships.

Culture

Golaghat district crowns many literary intellects who have made outstanding contributions to Assamese literature. The most prominent writer of the 19th century who hailed from Golaghat was Hem Chandra Barua, the writer of first Assamese dictionary Hemkosh. Raghunath Mahanta, Satradhikar of Doyang Alengi Satra of Golaghat, was another writer of 19th century who composed three masterpieces, namely Shatrunjoy Kavya, Adbhoot Ramayan and Katha Ramayan. One significant poet of the Ahom age was Durgeswar Dwiji. He composed a book titled Sangkhosur Badh. Hem Chandra Goswami is regarded as one of the most exceptional writers of the late 19th century and early twentieth century. He is the first sonnet writer of Assamese language. The credit of first Assamese poetess plus first Assamese short story writer amongst women went to Yamuneswari Khatoniar of Golaghat. Her collection of verses called Arun was the first book written by a woman poet.

Raibahadur Ghanashyam Barua of Golaghat, who was also famous in the field of politics as the first Central Minister of Assam, translated William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors into the Assamese language along with three of his partners. Kamal Chandra Sarma of Golaghat enjoyed the influential position of secretary of 'Asomiya Bhasa Unnoti Sadhini Sabha'. Syed Abdul Malik, the invincible writer of Assamese literature, belongs to the village of Nahoroni in Golaghat. He was the president of Assam Sahitya Sabha. Malik received many exalted prizes, including Sahitya Akademy, Sankar Dev Award, Xahityacharyya, etc.

Other people from Golaghat who marked their names as great writers of Assamese literature include Surendranath Saikia, Hari Parsad Barua, Kirtinath Hazarika, Dr Nagen Saikia, Dr Debo Prasad Barooah, Nilamoni Phukan, Samir Tanti, Lakhikanta Mahanta, Purna Chandra Goswami, Dr Upen Kakoty, Lolit Barua, Golap Khound and Premadhar Dutta. The Golaghat Sahitya Sabha is one of the oldest congresses of Assam Sahitya Sabha, started in 1918.

Flora and fauna

In 1974 Golaghat district became home to Kaziranga National Park, which has an area of 472 km² (182.2 sq mi).^[9] It shares the park with Nagaon district. It also home to Nambor - Doigrung Wildlife Sanctuary.

References

1. Law, Gwillim (2011-09-25). "Districts of India". Statoids. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
2. Srivastava, Dayawanti et al. (ed.) (2010). "States and Union Territories: Assam: Government". India 2010: A Reference Annual (54th ed.). New Delhi, India: Additional Director General, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Government of India. p. 1116. ISBN 978-81-230-1617-7.
3. "Island Directory Tables: Islands by Land Area". United Nations Environment Program. 1998-02-18. Retrieved 2011-10-11. North Andros Island 3,439
4. "List of Assembly Constituencies showing their Revenue & Election District wise break - up" (PDF). Chief Electoral Officer, Assam website. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
5. "List of Assembly Constituencies showing their Parliamentary Constituencies wise break - up" (PDF). Chief Electoral Officer, Assam website. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
6. "District Census 2011". Census2011.co.in. 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
7. US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Retrieved 2011-10-01. Cyprus 1,120,489 July 2011 est.
8. "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2011-09-30. Rhode Island 1,052,567
9. Indian Ministry of Forests and Environment. "Protected areas: Assam". Retrieved September 25, 2011.

External links

• www.mygolaghat.com A Website on golaghat
• Golaghat district official website
• A Website on Kaziranga Wildlife Park

Coordinates: 26°00′N 93°00′E / 26.0°N 93.0°E